Gerry Brownlee MP
National Party Maori Affairs Spokesman
05 September 2005

Brownlee suspicious about settlement timing

“The timing of the Te Arawa Agreement in Principle to settle historical Treaty claims is suspicious,” says National Party Maori Affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee.

“National believes there are some serious questions to be asked about how many of the iwi the Maori negotiators actually represent.

“Labour has completed only 10 settlements since they came into office, and many of those were started under National. Now they are desperately trying to patch up their record before the election by getting this claim signed off. But forcing settlements through without proper groundwork is not the answer.

“Today's settlement has been plagued by mandating problems all the way through. We are aware that some of the iwi involved are awaiting a Waitangi Tribunal decision over the right of negotiators to represent them.
“It is hard to believe those problems have all been resolved satisfactorily in time for today's signing. In Government, National will be having a close look at the work done so far on the Te Arawa settlement and will look to resolve mandate issues.

“With National, all historical grievances will be lodged by the end of 2006, with full, fair and final settlement by 2010.

“Only National can be trusted to deal with the Treaty grievance process quickly, fairly and finally,” says Mr Brownlee.

ENDS

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